J.Crew News: The Romantics Cast Hearts J.Crew! {part four}

As mentioned in in the "J.Crew News: The Romantics Cast Hearts J.Crew!", "J.Crew News: The Romantics Cast Hearts J.Crew! {part two}", & "J.Crew News: The Romantics Cast Hearts J.Crew! {part three}" posts, the cast of The Romantics film are loving J.Crew.

"Thanks!" to many of you, including JenLynn, Judith, & Minah, who let us know about the following news from StyeList (click here to read in its entirety):

J.Crew's 'The Romantics' Photo Shoot - Starring Katie Holmes and Josh Duhamel
By Jennifer Paull
August 18, 2010

In a StyleList exclusive, J.Crew gives us a sneak peek at images of Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, and their costars in the upcoming film "The Romantics," all decked out in J.Crew party attire.

The looks, drawn from the limited-edition Collection line for Fall 2010, are part of J.Crew's wardrobe contribution to the movie. For the photos, Holmes and Duhamel dance around with Malin Åkerman, Adam Brody, Jeremy Strong, and Rebecca Lawrence.

In the film, the actors play a group of college friends who reunite at a wedding on Long Island, NY, where a romantic triangle ignites. (The missing pieces are "True Blood"'s Anna Paquin, who plays the bride, and Elijah Wood.) As if the cast couldn't get any sweeter, the photos show them goofing around with cupcakes, feeding each other with the requisite dab of frosting on their faces.

The women gleam in a variety of shimmering styles. Åkerman wears a dark bronze sequined miniskirt; Lawrence swings her hips in a short, sunset-colored brocade sheath.

Holmes, meanwhile, wears a pale peach dress dripping with beaded fringe -- a look that practically begs to go dancing after the rehearsal dinner. (Something tells us that the film's bridesmaids dresses won't be the standard-issue taffeta horrors.)

In typical J.Crew fashion, the dressy duds are juxtaposed by boyish pieces. Åkerman layers on a sweatshirt vest, Lawrence tops her dress with a denim jacket, and Holmes toughens her wispy dress with a dark belt.

J.Crew polled the models-for-a-day about their romantic preferences and shared the surprising answers with StyleList.

Åkerman cracked that her most romantic word is "doofpot." Brody planted his tongue firmly in cheek, naming "The Shining" as the movie he finds most romantic and the score to "Gremlins" as his swoon-worthy song. Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Tom Cruise named Paris' Eiffel Tower (where she got engaged) as her most romantic place. She also divulged that "Songbird," by Fleetwood Mac, is her favorite lovestruck song and her favorite romantic words are "good morning." As for Duhamel? J.Crew tells us, "Josh was off being romantic and couldn't answer our Q&A."

"The Romantics," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, will open in limited release on September 10. Meanwhile, get a look at J.Crew's new bridal boutique in New York City.

There is also a very good article over at 680 News (click here):

J.Crew serves as thread between art, commerce, Holmes in film 'The Romantics'
By Samantha Critchell
August 18, 2010

This photo provided by J.Crew shows actors Josh Duhamel, left, and Katie Holmes from the J.Crew Fall Collection photo shoot with the cast of the upcoming film "The Romantics." Holmes and friends were in and out of several outfits— this time not costumes but clothes that will be available for sale this fall— over the course of several hours for an insert that will be bundled with the retailer’s fall catalog and on the brand’s website.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Clothes are a key part of weddings— and, it turns out, the marriage of art and commerce.

Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel and Malin Akerman are among the well-dressed stars of upcoming film "The Romantics," which is all about friends reuniting for a wedding with a few wounds still not healed. Here, fashion isn't just playing a supporting role— it's a key marketing partner for the film.

The cast, which also includes Adam Brody, Rebecca Lawrence and Jeremy Strong, reunited recently for a photo shoot for J.Crew and changed in and out of several outfits over the course of several hours for the retailer's fall catalogue and the brand's website.

Holmes was turned out in black-sequin harem pants paired with a chambray button-down shirt, a combination she likes because it's "a little more tomboy, a little Diane Keaton," as well as a brown cocktail frock and a champagne-coloured, flapper-inspired beaded number. That one was her favourite, Holmes says: "It's flirty but grown-up, too."

The vast studio in Chelsea marked a new sort of crossroads for fashion and film. "The Romantics" and J.Crew don't just dabble in product placement — although some of the costumes were indeed J.Crew. The retailer is serving as a bona fide marketing partner, including covering the costs associated with the shoot.

In the film, the characters largely are introduced through their wardrobe: the flirty girl in a studded mini; the pensive but pretty one wearing things dark and demure; the bride obviously in white, even for the rehearsal dinner as if to say, "Remember, I'm the bride here." The guys are in untucked shirts with suits and ties, not truly ready to part with their youthful ways.

"Because the story is about a group of 20-something-year-olds and before they've really become 'adults,' clothes are a huge part of defining their identity," says director Galt Niederhoffer. "Clothes are a personal statement. They can break people visually into introverts, extroverts, romantics, geeks."

The looks were a mash-up of J.Crew's classic pieces, bridal styles and the new upscale 769 Collection.

Niederhoffer, on this day in head-to-toe Madewell, another J.Crew brand, doesn't shy away from the art and commerce connection. She says it might be what keeps small filmmakers going.

"This partnership was a strategic, innovative way to promote our movie with the audience we wanted to reach. This seemed graceful, and having come from the indy film world, this seemed really natural and obvious," she says. "Necessity is the mother of innovation."

Holmes was on board from the start, recognizing that this was a way to get the movie for which she serves as an executive producer in front of audiences. She's the one who rallied the others to reunite— including getting Brody on a red-eye from Los Angeles and a return flight not even 12 hours later— and she's the one who stayed until the bitter end taking personal snapshots with the makeup artists, stylists and lighting folks.

"The movie takes place on the East Coast during the fall. The look of the movie goes well with the feel of J.Crew," says Holmes, who also posed for the brand when she was a starlet on "Dawson's Creek."

"I feel like when we met with Katie the day before and she tried on the clothes, she was excited. And we were excited because she knew how to take the clothes and make them fun," says Tom Mora, J.Crew's head of design for wedding and cocktail. "Anyone can throw on a dress but it's the slightly quirky attitude that lets you experience something different with your clothes."

Duhamel came away from both the movie and photo shoot a fan of sand-coloured ties with tonal tan suits. "Clothes have to do with character. Your clothes don't have to be cool, they just have to say something about your character," he says, adding that applies to real life, too.

Holmes, meanwhile, says she likes using clothes to convey mood. She then takes off her heels and walks out of the studio in a plain white tank top and jeans.

This looks like just the kind of movie I will rent via NetFlix. I will be pausing at each scene to check out the outfits! ;) I also can't wait to see the catalog with the cast as the main models. How exciting! :)

What are your thoughts on the "models"? Do you like how the outfits, featuring J.Crew, are styled? Are you excited to see J.Crew in the new movie?